Support for Struggling Writers

 

Support for Struggling Writers

Hallo everyone, welcome back to another wonderful week of my blog.  😊 Trusting that you guys were greatly informed in my last blog about the six approaches to teaching writing and are ready for today's blog post. <3

 

Why support struggling writers?

Let’s face it, we have all had some issues with developing our writing pieces at some point in our lives. Yes! Even teachers too. I would admit even as I am doing this degree I may second guess what I have written, or may not even know how to start. Students also become struggling writers because they lack interest in the topics given, or their writing pieces may be disorganized.

Here are some other reasons why students may struggle to write in the classroom:

But how do we as teachers support these struggling writers within the classroom?

Here are twelve (12) strategies to support struggling writers and some pointers to assist you in developing each strategy within your classroom:

 

 Here’s how students share their ideas before writing is done:

 

This will help those struggling writers who may have issues in thinking of what they should write about a particular topic. 

 

·         This can be done using snowball writing- For a set amount of time, the teacher assigns one student to begin the writing process. When the allotted time has passed, the teacher instructs the class to roll their papers into "snowballs" and hurl them elsewhere in the classroom. After smoothing up the paper and reclaiming one of the snowballs, the students resume writing. As necessary, this procedure is repeated. Once all sections are finished, the paper is returned to the original author, who makes a final copy.

 

·         Sketch and Scribble Writing - Students should be placed into groups of three. Then, as a writing prompt, a picture should be shown to each student so they are aware that the pictures drawn/used should be one that allows them to use a narrative voice. Each group member will be instructed to hide images they are drawing from the other group members once they begin their drawings of what they think the picture is saying. After the allotted time has passed, each student passes their work to another group member who will read it and depict the situation in drawing form using the description. The task will now be as the last students with each drawing, to develop a writing piece based on the drawings each group member had done. Students will compare and contrast their writing pieces and the drawings to the original picture/drawing.

 

These activities will definitely get those students who may not be interested in a topic, now more intrigued through a fun way of writing. 

 

 

Have a look at this great way to use the strategy, through sentence stems:

This will assist those students who may have issues developing their paragraphs because they don’t know how to begin. 

·         Tell Me About a Time When… Tell a 2-minute story describing a memory of an event. Prompts should be concrete and short (i.e. it was cold, it was raining, you were lonely, you lost track of time) and stories should be true.

 

·         Tour Guide a group or a partner around the room, telling brief stories inspired by objects in the room (like a tour guide in a museum). The story doesn’t have to be a specific length, but can be loosely inspired by the object or a literal story about a personal relationship with that object.

These are great activities to get students ready to write, especially for those struggling writers who may have a hard time in identifying and creating a logical sequence of ideas. 

    Students can use moving to a different area as one of their methods to get beyond writer's block. Results that are worth reading can be obtained by allowing students to write at the library, outside, or while on a field trip. The best and simplest method for differentiating prewriting is to use alternate settings. Additionally, practically all prewriting techniques can be applied outside.

    Providing time to discuss with peers- Students can learn quite a bit from one another and so as a meaningful prewriting activity, time is given to discuss ideas with peers or small groups, and listen to the feedback they may offer. Not only does this strategy allow students valuable time to mull over their ideas, but also it provides an avenue for teachers to teach students how to have meaningful and productive discussions about writing.

Teachers may involve their students in these activities to get those struggling writers, who may struggle to start their writing piece. 

          Character Webs- These help writers organize details about the character in a narrative writing piece. It focuses on character traits which describe a character based on his words and actions. These are great for helping the students to not only develop their characters on a deeper level, but also for teaching them how to strengthen their writing with “show don’t tell” details.

 

     Story Maps-These are the perfect tool for planning the key elements of their writing. It reminds them to think through the story and determine who will be their characters, where the story will take place, and identify the problem and the solution.

Teachers may involve their students in these activities to get those struggling writers, who may struggle to develop ideas. This will assist them greatly when they begin their writing piece. 

        Share good examples- Create an example of ‘What A Good One Looks Like’ or find one online for the genre you’re teaching. Sharing an example lets your students understand the features you expect them to include. Talk about what makes it great. Highlight vocabulary and sentence structures. Unpick it to learn the craft of the author.

       I do-we do- you do- Don't simply tell your students to start writing; they won't succeed, instead let them see you trying first ("I Do"). As though you had added audio explanation to your activities, the cognitive process must be described, with this they are able to observe the teacher’s errors, shifts in opinion, and creative improvements. A shared version must now be made ("We Do"), where the teacher will now ask his/her students to offer suggestions where together, a great example will be set. When this happens, they will be ready to write independently ('You Do'). In the end, the less confident students will closely follow and replicate the shared version.

These activities are what teachers can use to assist her struggling writers with aspects of the writing process, in which they will develop on their own in the end. 

 

Take a look at this example of a mini lesson:

Mini writing lessons like the one above, can help your struggling students by encouraging them to write with a purpose, inventiveness, and voice. This is through the teaching of the many elements of effective writing which will help them to put those elements into practice.

    

·         Students can be provided with a ‘Wow Words’ Thesaurus to assist them with their writing. This will aid them in choosing words to replace other words which will improve their writing pieces.    

·        Students are provided with task cards in a box which they will use to write a few sentences about a picture or object introduced to class. This can be in the form of a short writing activity, which gets your students writing every day.

Tools are very important in anything we do. These tools and more can assist students who may struggle with vocabulary or who may lack interest in certain topics.  

·         Allow students to choose topics- Giving students the option to write about their interests might encourage them to become more involved in both writing and their overall learning. With this, students will be more eager to write for they are writing about what they know or what they most like.

 

·        Allowing students to choose writing strategies- Students should be able to choose what strategy they would like to use in their writing. In doing this, they will feel more comfortable in their writing skills as a result. For, they will be more fluent in their writing for this strategy is what they are most versatile in.

 

Students who struggle with writing are better able to improve when given a choice since they are now motivated to write because it is what they are most comfortable doing, ‘writing how and about what interests them’. 

·         Teachers who teach their students about the author's purpose within their class will help struggling writers grasp the qualities that good writing should have. In this way, students will understand that their writing serves a purpose beyond simple expression. They would now refine their writing to engage readers (teacher/students within the class) in ways that would persuade, inform, explain, and amuse them.

Struggling writers do put more effort into the project when there is a deeper reason behind it.

·         Here are a few tips in conducting an effective writing conference to assist your struggling writers within the classroom:

Overall, the strategies I learned this week in the course—instructional strategies for teaching writing, strategies for helping your struggling writers, and strategies for revising—will undoubtedly help me as a teacher and my students understand what is required to create and/or become exceptional writers. Particularly in helping my struggling writers to get to where they need to be. Also, helping the rest of my class using these techniques.

Take a look at this video of how you can motivate your struggling writers: 

Can you recall in your teaching any struggles students may have faced when writing? I surely will like to know. :-) 

Can you see any of these twelve strategies aiding these struggling students in the classroom?